O'Leary wins Galion mayoral race, Treisch auditor

GALION - In one of the more heavily contested races of Election Day, Galion Mayor Tom O'Leary retained his seat with nearly 60 percent of the votes.

O'Leary earned 1,269 votes, compared to the 519 cast for Jim Hedges and the 331 cast for Kenneth Bodkins. The results are unofficial, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Crawford County Board of Elections.

The commanding win was a good indicator of the spirit of the city in O'Leary's eyes.

"It's important, I think, in any race to get a majority, so I was happy to get more than 50 percent of the vote," O'Leary said.

The mayor was also happy that his administration will get to continue working on several economic development projects they've been working on over the past few years.

"The administrative team in city hall will remain intact for another four years and will allow to begin the new term with a good working relationship," O'Leary said. "Those projects that are well on their way to being completed can move ahead without any skips or hesitation — I think that's a positive thing."

Their first order of business is to continue rebuilding the city after the tornado that ripped through town earlier this week.

"It feels good this evening to win another term," O'Leary said. "Tomorrow we get back to the daily business of recovering from the storm and taking care of the business of the town."

Carl Watt won the Galion City Council president's seat by earning all of the 1,729 cast in the unopposed election.